Otherness and Human Trafficking: the Vulnerability of Indigenous Women to Sexual Exploitation

Otherness and Human Trafficking: The Vulnerability of Indigenous Women to Sexual Exploitation Nora Loozen 2012-2013 Supervisor: Luis Rodríguez-Piñero Royo Second Semester University : University of Seville "Slavery was never abolished, it was only extended to include all the colors." Charles Bukowski Acknowledgements First, I would like to address special thanks to my supervisor, Luis Rodríguez-Piñero Royo, who has been there for me from the beginning to the end of this Master's thesis. He has provided me with his wise advices and with support and has given to me a particular attention. He left me the opportunity to share my ideas freely in a constructive manner. I would like to express my deep gratitude for his availability and his commitment to his role of supervisor. I would also like to thank the wonderful E.MA team of the University of Seville, Dr. Carmen Márquez Carrasco, the E.MA Programme Director for her support and the great programme she has organised for us, and Marta Gutiérrez Fernández, “our little angel”, for her smile and for all the energy she provided to make our stay in Seville incredible. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family. Thanks to their support, I was able to realise this great and enriching E.MA experience and I will always be thankful to them. Abstract Cases of indigenous women being trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation are reported all over the world. Although evidence within the existing literature suggests a link between ethnicity and susceptibility to human trafficking, there is a lack of research on this correlation. By presenting the different systems of oppression of indigenous women, this paper explores the impact of the representation of indigenous women as “others” on their actual vulnerability to trafficking. It addresses the specific root causes deriving from this concept, such as contemporary exoticism, cultural practices, and processes of dispossession. The methods of this research are qualitative, as information has been mainly by secondary data, such as books, published articles, and reports from non-governmental organisations. This research aims at rising awareness on this issue in order to achieve a better prevention of trafficking of indigenous women. Table of Acronyms APA Amerindian People's Association AWID Association For Women's Right in Development CEDAW Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CERD Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination CESCR Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CSW Commission on the Status of Women ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Council EZLN Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional FPA Forest People's Alliance ICCLR International Centre for Criminal Law Reform & Criminal Justice Policy ICEDAW International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development ILO International Labour Organisation ILO 169 International Labour Organisation Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries IDP Internally Displaced People IFIMI/IIWF International Indigenous Women's Forum IWGA International World Group for Indigenous Affairs KIA Kachin Independence Army NGO Non-governmental organisation NWAC Native Women‘s Association of Canada OIAM Oaxacan Institute for Migrant Affairs OFIFC Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres RCAP Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples THB Trafficking in Human Beings UN United Nations UNDCP United Nations International Drug Control Programme UNDRIP United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF United Nations Childrens’ Fund UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNODC United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime UNPFI United Nations Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues U.S. United States WCIP World Council on Indigenous People Table of contents Introduction.......................................................................................................................1 Part I: Conceptual framework..........................................................................................11 Chapter 1: Definition of concepts....................................................................................12 1.1. Trafficking for sexual exploitation..................................................................12 1.2. Vulnerability to trafficking and prevention mechanisms................................16 1. 3. Who are the “indigenous people”? ................................................................17 Chapter 2: Indigenous women and otherness..................................................................20 Part II. Root causes of trafficking of indigenous women for sexual exploitation...........27 Chapter 3: Contemporary exoticism and historical legacy of sexual exploitation of indigenous women...........................................................................................................28 3.1. Exoticism and the sex trade.............................................................................28 1. 2. From idealisation to demonisation.................................................................30 1.3. Historical legacy of sexual exploitation .........................................................33 1.4. The generational trauma..................................................................................36 1.5. Consequence on the current vulnerability to trafficking ................................39 Chapter 4: Cultural practices of sexual exploitation of indigenous women...................46 4.1. Harmful practices and human trafficking .......................................................46 4.2. The impact on indigenous women .................................................................48 Chapter 5: Processes of dispossession............................................................................54 5.1. Internal displacement......................................................................................54 5.1.2. Development-induced displacement.......................................................56 5.1.2. Conflict-induced displacement................................................................62 5.2. Statelessness ...................................................................................................65 5.2.1. Another expression of otherness..............................................................65 5.2.2. Consequence on the current vulnerability to trafficking.........................68 Conclusions.....................................................................................................................73 Bibliography....................................................................................................................78 Introduction The lack of data is the main obstacle when doing research on human trafficking, the improvements of the last years being unsatisfactory. 1 Because of its hidden nature, collecting precise data on how many people are trafficked, what are their characteristics, origin, and knowing exactly the scope of the issue is extremely complex. A number of non-governmental organisations' (NGOs) reports and academic research provide insight both of the possible scope of the problem and of the lack of awareness on the issue of trafficking of indigenous women for sexual exploitation. In countries such as Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Guyana, India, Lao PDR, Mexico, Nepal, Taiwan, or the United States, to name only a few, indigenous women are vulnerable to being trafficked for sexual exploitation and for other purposes due to the interaction of a complex number of factors. 1. Presentation of the research question As preventing human trafficking is highly complex, 2 prevention mechanisms have to address the root causes of vulnerability in order to be efficient. For that purpose, a comprehensive understanding of the context in which trafficking happens is essential. However, indigenous women have for long been forgotten in the trafficking literature. A report issued in May 2013 by UN women about violence against indigenous women and girls addresses the state of research in that area: The review ﬁnds limited references to indigenous girls and women in the expanding research on the various dimensions of economic exploitation, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation which are issues of concern in the three regions [Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America]. Within the broad array of literature, the study ﬁnds that disaggregation by both sex and ethnicity are 1 Laczko, 2002. 2 UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), 2008. 1 rare and references to indigenous girls and women are made to sectors which engage young people in bonded labour, forced labour, domestic labour, human trafficking in which they are also at risk of being sold.3 Indigenous women are one of the groups that have received little attention in the trafficking literature. They kind of fall into the vacuum of the research on human trafficking, as trafficking of indigenous women has specific characteristics that exactly correspond to areas in which the literature on trafficking is still obscure and not enough explored. The first instruments dealing with human trafficking, such as the Suppression 4 of the Traffic in Women and Children (1921) and Suppression of the Traffic in Women 5 of Full Age (1933) ,

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